(n.) The bare end of the nose between the nostrils; -- used esp. of ruminants.
(v. t.) To wrap up in something that conceals or protects; to wrap, as the face and neck, in thick and disguising folds; hence, to conceal or cover the face of; to envelop; to inclose; -- often with up.
(v. t.) To prevent seeing, or hearing, or speaking, by wraps bound about the head; to blindfold; to deafen.
(v. t.) To wrap with something that dulls or deadens the sound of; as, to muffle the strings of a drum, or that part of an oar which rests in the rowlock.
(v. i.) To speak indistinctly, or without clear articulation.
(v. t.) Anything with which another thing, as an oar or drum, is muffled; also, a boxing glove; a muff.
(v. t.) An earthenware compartment or oven, often shaped like a half cylinder, used in furnaces to protect objects heated from the direct action of the fire, as in scorification of ores, cupellation of ore buttons, etc.
(v. t.) A small oven for baking and fixing the colors of painted or printed pottery, without exposing the pottery to the flames of the furnace or kiln.
(v. t.) A pulley block containing several sheaves.
Example Sentences:
(1) Weirdly, the muffled Doppler effects of several thousand passing SUVs was quite soothing.
(2) True diastolic pressure is usually closer to the disappearance point of Korotkoff sounds than to the muffling phase.
(3) Hence his fondness for placing the camera far away from its subjects: Hidden coolly watches as a child's small world falls apart, his cries muffled by the intervening space; and Code Unknown concludes by showing how life, likened by Haneke to a flea circus, indifferently unravels on a Paris boulevard.
(4) The presence of a muffled voice led to radiologic and indirect laryngoscopic examination confirming the diagnosis.
(5) The effect of El Niño during these years compounded the muffling effect of greenhouse gases and lead to exceptionally hot global temperatures.
(6) I heard about three or four shots fired, but they were muffled, as if taking place indoors,” one witness told Agence France-Presse.
(7) Common symptoms include fever, swollen neck, difficult swallowing, muffled voice and hyperextension of the head and neck.
(8) In places there were moans and muffled cries beneath the ruins, spurring frantic efforts to dig people out with bare hands and improvised tools.
(9) The determinations of calcium, magnesium, and phosphorus in dentine showed no significant differences between LTA, muffle furnace ashing (MFA), and wet ashing.
(10) The policemen closed the doors, but the muffled screams continued outside.
(11) The samples of the mentioned tissues were dried and ashed in the muffle furnace.
(12) Questions will undoutedly be asked about Brown's vocal capabilities – once described by Guardian critic Alexis Petridis as "a muffled, gloomy honk, like a despondent goose wearing a balaclava" – and whether the band, now in middle-age, will be able to capture the heady excitement of their early days.
(13) For some it sounded muffled and far away, as though somewhere in the distance a big balloon had popped.
(14) Once again, Vince Cable is a rather lonely prophet worrying where this will lead, but this time a voice of warning somewhat muffled by collective responsibility.
(15) Fabricant, who was strongly involved in the Tory campaign in Eastleigh, tweeted: "The Conservative voice is muffled and not crisp.
(16) But instead of a traditional riot or at least some minor destruction, the place was filled with well-behaved individuals, talking in the "inside voices" with muffled jubilation (even when the US won!).
(17) Abnormal or muffled heart sounds associated with pericarditis and epicarditis was the most common sequela, occurring in 40 cases.
(18) The polite approach of London Citizens has so far yielded muffled responses, but the issue will be raised at a November board meeting: if there is no decisive yes, expect the gloves to come off, and more direct action, including a shoppers' boycott.
(19) Inadequate velopharyngeal function, whether congenital or subsequent to palatal repair, may be masked by the presence of other speech problems in this syndrome, particularly by the "muffled" voice quality which appears to be associated with an elevated and retracted tongue posture.
(20) Extreme sore throat, pooling of oral secretions, muffled voice, and elevated temperature were uncommon.
Stifle
Definition:
(n.) The joint next above the hock, and near the flank, in the hind leg of the horse and allied animals; the joint corresponding to the knee in man; -- called also stifle joint. See Illust. under Horse.
(v. t.) To stop the breath of by crowding something into the windpipe, or introducing an irrespirable substance into the lungs; to choke; to suffocate; to cause the death of by such means; as, to stifle one with smoke or dust.
(v. t.) To stop; to extinguish; to deaden; to quench; as, to stifle the breath; to stifle a fire or flame.
(v. t.) To suppress the manifestation or report of; to smother; to conceal from public knowledge; as, to stifle a story; to stifle passion.
(v. i.) To die by reason of obstruction of the breath, or because some noxious substance prevents respiration.
Example Sentences:
(1) I would like to see the return to a free university system for Australian students so everybody can have the same dreams and aspirations about bettering themselves and this nation, regardless of their circumstances.” Palmer said Australia’s best thinkers were being “stifled” and the country was “burying them in debt”.
(2) The stifles were frozen in slight flexion, then cut into 1-cm sagittal sections.
(3) 'Azerbaijan is turning into a dictatorship – we shouldn't fall for its caviar diplomacy' Read more The crowded courtroom was growing increasing stifling as the air-conditioner could not cope with mid-August heat.
(4) In addition, two dogs received intra-articular injections of autologous blood into their right stifle joint and saline into their left stifle joint.
(5) But whatever positions are put forward, we must ensure democracy is not stifled.
(6) What about the chilling effects of libel tourism and a system that both adds cost to stories and stifles freedom of expression?
(7) For long periods Argentina had been stifled by a fine counterpunching opposition, but it would be a little hasty to fret too much about them after this performance.
(8) Property taxes stifle investment and they contribute to businesses closing.” He said 66% of the properties featured on the list had appealed against their business rates.
(9) My role in these later manifestations of silence was that of aiding her in the articulation of hopes and wishes, stifled since early childhood because of an unfortunate series of abandonments and experiences of humiliation.
(10) A modified Ilizarov external fixator was used to transfix the stifle joint in 13 dogs.
(11) Peter Wilmshurst and his family enter the normal world blinking from the bright light of a case that is over" Wilmshurst was under no illusions as to the possibly disastrous financial outcome for himself and his family, but refused to back down in the face of a libel suit he believed was an attempt to silence valid criticism and stifle scientific debate.
(12) The development of elastic-system fibers in human vocal cord is characterized by every stage of maturation, whether normal, stifled or accelerated, according to areas.
(13) The English have escaped from the stifling post-imperial malaise to provide a political and economic system which is both continuous and dynamic, attracting capital and enterprise from all over the world.
(14) We are particularly grateful for our colleagues across the world who supported the Guardian in circumstances which threatened to stifle our reporting.
(15) The incident is the latest dispute between Belarus and western nations, in particular EU states that have challenged the former Soviet country and its longtime leader, Alexander Lukashenko , over a perceived stifling of human rights.
(16) In addition, a drawer sign was present in the stifle of 14 animals 31 days after surgery.
(17) It is said, for example, that tighter curbs would stifle innovation, although this theory appears not to be true for any other branch of modern capitalism.
(18) The death toll was worst in old peoples' homes and (less surprisingly) in stifling cities where the old, friendless and abandoned succumbed to the heat in anonymous apartments.
(19) Inside the carriage the temperature was stifling, the stench of unwashed bodies and stale urine overwhelming.
(20) "Telecoms is a very good example: for a long time, we had a government monopoly, which stifled innovation, and the service was poor.